A few hours later, Kane, who had been taken to the basement of the Marquis of Mosley, woke up and was interrogated by Erne and the Marquis. Kane confessed his grievances, saying that he had only wanted to tease Judith.
“Please, listen to me. He clearly said that the bug lays eggs in candles and lives there and that it is completely harmless to humans.”
He thought that if a bug came out of an expensive incense stick, it would be talked about badly by word of mouth and would be a blow to Judith's business, so he received the bug from the man.
“Didn’t you ever think that you’d get caught coming into the store and letting out bugs?”
“He said I have to let it out near the grass or it might run away somewhere else. And it’s just a bug. He said it wouldn’t be strange if it flew in from outside or got stuck to your clothes.”
There was a reason he insisted on going into the store and releasing the bugs. Trained red bugs only host people they target, and if the target is too far away, they can't find it.
So when you want to plant the enemy in someone's body, you have to release it near the person you want to make the host. And this time, the enemy's target was clearly Erne.
He could tell just by looking at the fact that it didn't show any reaction to the people inside the store, as well as to Judith and Kane who were near the bug, until it found Erne's hand and started digging right into it.
Kane described the man's appearance from the first thing he remembered, saying he had no idea the bug could burrow into human skin.
“He was tall, and... oh, a scar! He had a scar on his face.”
A tall man with a scar on his face carries a weapon used by the followers.
“Is it Roam?”
Erne suddenly thought of Roam. Just because he had a scar on his face, it wasn't necessarily obvious that he was Roam, but several circumstances pointed to him being Roam.
Well, it didn't matter. Whether it was Roam or whoever, the fact that they were followers didn't change.
What's important here is that the followers tried to plant the bug in Erne's body and that too in Judith's shop.
What this means is...
“They knew Erne was in the store.”
It meant that.
“There’s no need to cover your face anymore, Erne.”
It was useless to cover his face as his entire range of activities was discovered. Erne nervously took off his mask and crumpled it.
“But why did they try to plant the bug in Erne’s body? Where did they want to confine him?”
“I guess that’s what they ultimately intended, but it seems like they were just trying to kidnap me.”
The red bug tends to move to places where it does not smell like a particular pollen. This feature can be used to make the red bug's host walk to a desired location and on its own.
Erne muttered, clenching and unclenching his bandaged arm.
“It seems like the experiment using me isn’t over yet.”
The followers tried to take Erne 'alive'.
Cliff's butler tried to interfere when Cliff sent an assassin to Erne.
This time, the followers tried to kidnap Erne using a bug called a red bug, which is not very harmful to the human body.
That is to say, they needed a living Erne.
“Because Her Majesty the Empress kept quiet about how you got rid of the bug, it seems like they didn’t know you could get rid of the bug. It seems like they’re using the same plan that failed once again.”
“Or maybe that was the only way. They might be stuck in the capital and not receiving support from the headquarters.”
At least one thing was certain: the Red Wine medium was still in the capital.
“Lock the capital city gates and release the police or the imperial knights to search for them.”
Erne growled at Marquis Mosley.
“I tried. But as I said before, information is leaking from within.”
“Then shouldn’t we catch that rat first?”
If it were as easy as it sounds, he would have done it a long time ago. The Marquis let out a short sigh.
“His Majesty must be worried about that too. While suppressing the rebellion, he excluded all families with even the slightest connection to the followers from important posts.”
But it was crazy that the information was leaking.
“I will also look into all the families that provided financial support to the followers.”
“Are you saying that you left those humans alone?”
The Emperor, like Erne, wanted to punish any family that had contributed even a little to the rebellion.
However, if that were to happen, the argument that the Shartins who had ties to the followers should be wiped out would inevitably arise, since the Shartins were the ones who initiated the rebellion.
Then, it was obvious that the Shartin tribe, which already had a bad reputation, and the Shartin Empress and Prince would not be looked upon favorably.
It was more important to the Emperor that the Empress and the Crown Prince be kept safe than to root out the rebels.
“I will tell His Majesty and mobilize all the Imperial Knights to find them.”
The Marquis answered with determination and looked at Judith.
“Madam, please take care of yourself. The followers may come after you.”
Judith and Erne suddenly remembered that Roam had approached Judith, saying that something evil had come over her.
Did he approach Judith on purpose back then? He thought he was just trying to recruit her as a follower.
A vein bulged out on Erne's chin as he bit the bullet.
Because of him, Judith got entangled with the followers. If he had left the mansion as soon as he was revived, this wouldn't have happened. He was too careless and put Judith in danger.
'There's no point in leaving now.'
They already knew Judith. It was quite possible that they would use her as bait to capture Erne.
Fortunately, Judith is quick-witted and has a good head on her shoulders, so she won't easily fall into the trap of the followers.
'What if they tempt her with gold coins? What if they lure her with promises of making her a lot of money?'
Erne looked down at Judith standing next to him. She was the one who signed a body waiver to earn money.
'It goes beyond, and beyond, it remains.'
Erne sighed like Marquis Mosley. His thoughts about joining the Imperial Knights and going on a search for the capital ended shortly.
Even if it was not easy, he felt he should leave the search to the Marquis and stay by Judith's side.
Kane was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aiding a traitor. Naturally, Kane was very upset. He had intended to interfere with my business, but he had not intended to help a traitor.
If they look at the facts, Kane was simply used by the followers, so a 30-year prison sentence was a pretty harsh punishment.
But here I intervened.
“You don’t have to buy incense, so would you mind granting me one favor, Your Grace?”
I wanted Kane to pay for his past sins. Of course, Kane must be very wrong. But would he be more wronged than George, who was driven into a corner after losing his shop and secret recipe because he was a member of the Shartins, or his mother who lost her son?
“Rest comfortably now.”
This is revenge as a fellow small business owner.
I felt relieved as I turned around after laying flowers in front of George and his mother's graves. Now I truly felt like the store was mine.
“You still feel bad, don’t you? I thought you’d be upset that I was interrupting your business by cursing you for no reason.”
“What on earth does Erne think of me?”
“A person obsessed with the supremacy of gold.”
I frowned, but I couldn't really refute the statement because it was true.
“I’m worried. If someone tells you to follow them and give you a silver coin, I think you’ll follow them.”
“Am I stupid?”
I pouted.
“What if they give you ten silver coins?”
“I’m not going.”
“What if they give you gold?”
Gold coins? I hesitated slightly at the word gold coins. However, I soon shook my head, perhaps because my life was more precious than a single gold coin.
“Then what if they give you one hundred gold coins?”
“A hundred gold? A hundred gold is a lot. Who wouldn’t give that kind of money?”
His hesitation deepened.
“Please, listen to me. He clearly said that the bug lays eggs in candles and lives there and that it is completely harmless to humans.”
He thought that if a bug came out of an expensive incense stick, it would be talked about badly by word of mouth and would be a blow to Judith's business, so he received the bug from the man.
“Didn’t you ever think that you’d get caught coming into the store and letting out bugs?”
“He said I have to let it out near the grass or it might run away somewhere else. And it’s just a bug. He said it wouldn’t be strange if it flew in from outside or got stuck to your clothes.”
There was a reason he insisted on going into the store and releasing the bugs. Trained red bugs only host people they target, and if the target is too far away, they can't find it.
So when you want to plant the enemy in someone's body, you have to release it near the person you want to make the host. And this time, the enemy's target was clearly Erne.
He could tell just by looking at the fact that it didn't show any reaction to the people inside the store, as well as to Judith and Kane who were near the bug, until it found Erne's hand and started digging right into it.
Kane described the man's appearance from the first thing he remembered, saying he had no idea the bug could burrow into human skin.
“He was tall, and... oh, a scar! He had a scar on his face.”
A tall man with a scar on his face carries a weapon used by the followers.
“Is it Roam?”
Erne suddenly thought of Roam. Just because he had a scar on his face, it wasn't necessarily obvious that he was Roam, but several circumstances pointed to him being Roam.
Well, it didn't matter. Whether it was Roam or whoever, the fact that they were followers didn't change.
What's important here is that the followers tried to plant the bug in Erne's body and that too in Judith's shop.
What this means is...
“They knew Erne was in the store.”
It meant that.
“There’s no need to cover your face anymore, Erne.”
It was useless to cover his face as his entire range of activities was discovered. Erne nervously took off his mask and crumpled it.
“But why did they try to plant the bug in Erne’s body? Where did they want to confine him?”
“I guess that’s what they ultimately intended, but it seems like they were just trying to kidnap me.”
The red bug tends to move to places where it does not smell like a particular pollen. This feature can be used to make the red bug's host walk to a desired location and on its own.
Erne muttered, clenching and unclenching his bandaged arm.
“It seems like the experiment using me isn’t over yet.”
The followers tried to take Erne 'alive'.
Cliff's butler tried to interfere when Cliff sent an assassin to Erne.
This time, the followers tried to kidnap Erne using a bug called a red bug, which is not very harmful to the human body.
That is to say, they needed a living Erne.
“Because Her Majesty the Empress kept quiet about how you got rid of the bug, it seems like they didn’t know you could get rid of the bug. It seems like they’re using the same plan that failed once again.”
“Or maybe that was the only way. They might be stuck in the capital and not receiving support from the headquarters.”
At least one thing was certain: the Red Wine medium was still in the capital.
“Lock the capital city gates and release the police or the imperial knights to search for them.”
Erne growled at Marquis Mosley.
“I tried. But as I said before, information is leaking from within.”
“Then shouldn’t we catch that rat first?”
If it were as easy as it sounds, he would have done it a long time ago. The Marquis let out a short sigh.
“His Majesty must be worried about that too. While suppressing the rebellion, he excluded all families with even the slightest connection to the followers from important posts.”
But it was crazy that the information was leaking.
“I will also look into all the families that provided financial support to the followers.”
“Are you saying that you left those humans alone?”
The Emperor, like Erne, wanted to punish any family that had contributed even a little to the rebellion.
However, if that were to happen, the argument that the Shartins who had ties to the followers should be wiped out would inevitably arise, since the Shartins were the ones who initiated the rebellion.
Then, it was obvious that the Shartin tribe, which already had a bad reputation, and the Shartin Empress and Prince would not be looked upon favorably.
It was more important to the Emperor that the Empress and the Crown Prince be kept safe than to root out the rebels.
“I will tell His Majesty and mobilize all the Imperial Knights to find them.”
The Marquis answered with determination and looked at Judith.
“Madam, please take care of yourself. The followers may come after you.”
Judith and Erne suddenly remembered that Roam had approached Judith, saying that something evil had come over her.
Did he approach Judith on purpose back then? He thought he was just trying to recruit her as a follower.
A vein bulged out on Erne's chin as he bit the bullet.
Because of him, Judith got entangled with the followers. If he had left the mansion as soon as he was revived, this wouldn't have happened. He was too careless and put Judith in danger.
'There's no point in leaving now.'
They already knew Judith. It was quite possible that they would use her as bait to capture Erne.
Fortunately, Judith is quick-witted and has a good head on her shoulders, so she won't easily fall into the trap of the followers.
'What if they tempt her with gold coins? What if they lure her with promises of making her a lot of money?'
Erne looked down at Judith standing next to him. She was the one who signed a body waiver to earn money.
'It goes beyond, and beyond, it remains.'
Erne sighed like Marquis Mosley. His thoughts about joining the Imperial Knights and going on a search for the capital ended shortly.
Even if it was not easy, he felt he should leave the search to the Marquis and stay by Judith's side.
***
Kane was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aiding a traitor. Naturally, Kane was very upset. He had intended to interfere with my business, but he had not intended to help a traitor.
If they look at the facts, Kane was simply used by the followers, so a 30-year prison sentence was a pretty harsh punishment.
But here I intervened.
“You don’t have to buy incense, so would you mind granting me one favor, Your Grace?”
I wanted Kane to pay for his past sins. Of course, Kane must be very wrong. But would he be more wronged than George, who was driven into a corner after losing his shop and secret recipe because he was a member of the Shartins, or his mother who lost her son?
“Rest comfortably now.”
This is revenge as a fellow small business owner.
I felt relieved as I turned around after laying flowers in front of George and his mother's graves. Now I truly felt like the store was mine.
“You still feel bad, don’t you? I thought you’d be upset that I was interrupting your business by cursing you for no reason.”
“What on earth does Erne think of me?”
“A person obsessed with the supremacy of gold.”
I frowned, but I couldn't really refute the statement because it was true.
“I’m worried. If someone tells you to follow them and give you a silver coin, I think you’ll follow them.”
“Am I stupid?”
I pouted.
“What if they give you ten silver coins?”
“I’m not going.”
“What if they give you gold?”
Gold coins? I hesitated slightly at the word gold coins. However, I soon shook my head, perhaps because my life was more precious than a single gold coin.
“Then what if they give you one hundred gold coins?”
“A hundred gold? A hundred gold is a lot. Who wouldn’t give that kind of money?”
His hesitation deepened.
Look at this, look at this. I really need to stay by your side. Erne clicked her tongue.
“Instead of asking questions like this, you should quickly catch the followers. What if they rebel again?”
Judith's voice was thick with worry. Was she secretly afraid that her followers might come after her?
“They say that when a country is in chaos, business doesn’t go well.”
“...You are that now.”
He was about to ask, "Is that important?" but Erne now knows that nothing is more important to Judith than that.
“So, wouldn’t it be better for Erne to help Marquis Mosley rather than sticking by my side?”
From the day he returned from his visit to the Marquis of Mosley, Erne never left Judith's side for a moment.
Anyway, they lived in the same house and shared a horse, so they didn't really spend much time apart.
“I told you that the followers might approach you.”
“There’s Sir Henry.”
The Marquis of Mosley took special care to ensure that Henry took a very long vacation so that he could devote himself completely to her incense shop and his work as a police officer.
Although it was a vacation given to protect Judith, it was a satisfactory result for both Judith and Henry.
“Do you want to be alone with Henry, Miss Harrington?”
Erne wanted to say that he couldn't believe Henry's skills, but for some reason, nonsense came out of his mouth.
It wasn't intentional. At first glance, it might sound like jealousy, so Erne was slightly embarrassed inside.
“What is it, Erne, are you jealous now?”
“Instead of asking questions like this, you should quickly catch the followers. What if they rebel again?”
Judith's voice was thick with worry. Was she secretly afraid that her followers might come after her?
“They say that when a country is in chaos, business doesn’t go well.”
“...You are that now.”
He was about to ask, "Is that important?" but Erne now knows that nothing is more important to Judith than that.
“So, wouldn’t it be better for Erne to help Marquis Mosley rather than sticking by my side?”
From the day he returned from his visit to the Marquis of Mosley, Erne never left Judith's side for a moment.
Anyway, they lived in the same house and shared a horse, so they didn't really spend much time apart.
“I told you that the followers might approach you.”
“There’s Sir Henry.”
The Marquis of Mosley took special care to ensure that Henry took a very long vacation so that he could devote himself completely to her incense shop and his work as a police officer.
Although it was a vacation given to protect Judith, it was a satisfactory result for both Judith and Henry.
“Do you want to be alone with Henry, Miss Harrington?”
Erne wanted to say that he couldn't believe Henry's skills, but for some reason, nonsense came out of his mouth.
It wasn't intentional. At first glance, it might sound like jealousy, so Erne was slightly embarrassed inside.
“What is it, Erne, are you jealous now?”
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